Huntsville Stars cancel gun raffle promotion

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -

After a minor league baseball promotion went viral, the Huntsville Stars decided to cancel a gun raffle.

Several weeks ago, the Huntsville Stars announced a July 3rd promotion they called Second Amendment Night. The promotion included free admission to the game for any NRA member and a raffle for different guns provided by a gun and pawn shop.

The promotion hit the national media over the weekend. USA Today featured the promotion on its website, sports blog deadspin.com has written about it, and the Huntsville Stars have also been mentioned by ESPN reporter Darren Rovell on his twitter account.

Huntsville Stars General Manager Buck Rogers said they have returned the three gift certificates for the guns and will no longer be raffling them off at Wednesday's game. The NRA discount is still available to members.

Rogers spoke with MiLB and MLB but said ultimately it was their decision.

The Southern League president confirmed she did talk to the Huntsville Stars and she felt it was not "in the best interest of baseball" to have the gun raffle. She said the Southern League doesn't have any rules against promotions, but they ask every team to use common sense. She said the league "is not anti-gun."

The Huntsville Stars released this statement concerning the raffle:

"In the best interest of baseball, the Huntsville Stars will not include the gift certificates from Larry's Pistol & Pawn in the in-game raffle on Wednesday, July 3rd. We appreciate the support and understanding of Stars fans and invite everybody out for our 2nd Amendment Night/Independence Night celebration game with post-game fireworks show on Wednesday night. Gates will open early at 5:00 p.m., game time is scheduled for 6:43 p.m."